Easiest Countries To Get Citizenship In Europe - CEOWORLD magazine (2024)

Europe is the second smallest continent, dominated by the most vibrant countries. European countries are well-known for their culture, nightlife, architecture, lifestyle, museums, and restaurants, making them a favorite tourist attraction. Besides being a tourist destination, European citizenship policies take the leading place to attract foreigners’ attention to get citizenship.
Citizens have full rights, freedom of work, life, education, and a wide range of benefits, making more and more foreigners desire to obtain a European passport. Getting an EU nationality is an effortless task for one through several ways such as descent, naturalization, and marriage. However, a person without any European relative or spouse can also obtain their second nationality through naturalization.Every European country offers citizenship by naturalization but with different requirements.

In this article, we have compiled a list of the easiest countries to obtain EU citizenship:

1. Portugal
   Portugal took the first position in the list and one of the fastest-growing citizenship policies for its uncomplicated and most accessible requirements to get citizenship. This nation permits their nationality to people with elementary knowledge in the Portuguese language with a minimum of five years of residence permit. However, Portugal does not bind a person to live there continuously; one needs to reside there only two weeks a year.
2. Sweden
   Sweden is one of the easiest and non-restricted countries for citizenship in the European continent. Like Portugal, Sweden requires at least a five-year resident permit without any language obligations to get citizenship. The language requirement is not currently necessary but may later add on. However, a person can also reduce this resident time to three years if they have a Swedish spouse for a minimum of two years.Everyone found it convenient and quick to get Swedish citizenship about 39 months after applying. Moreover, citizens get equal rights and responsibilities, economic stability, ease of travel through different countries without a visa, excellent education, healthcare facilities, and dual citizenship for other countries besides Swedish nationality.
3. France
   Obtaining citizenship in France is uncomplicated, but requires a minimum living time for every foreigner. Residents are only required to reside there for five years, although people who complete post-graduation from a French university can apply for citizenship in two years. After getting a residency permit, the foreigner needs to show basic knowledge in the French language, history, culture, and politics to get citizenship.
4. Malta
   Malta is the country that offers the fastest citizenship program through investment. Residents need to show a one-year residency permit besides contributing the minimum required amount of € 750,000. However, a person with a three-year residency permit gets citizenship with less investment. Malta citizenship by investment procedure takes an average time of 12 to 36 months and receives the Maltese passport effortlessly.
5. United Kingdom
   The United Kingdom offers British citizenship to all individuals who have resided there for at least five years. Applicants must also showcase the skills to pass the “life in the UK” test and shall demonstrate an intermediate command of the English language. Other perks of living in the United Kingdom include dual nationality which makes it easier for high-net-worth individuals.
6. Norway
   Norway unlike the other Schengen countries has changed its citizenship restrictions in 2015. According to the new law, Norwegians are allowed to keep second citizenship and must have spent at least 7 years in the country before applying for naturalization. Apart from this, applicants must also serve a series of documents including a certificate of good conduct from the police.
7. Netherlands
   The Netherlands is another of the European nations which ranks high among investors for citizenship. Applicants who are willing to spend the rest of their life in the country must live at least 5 years before applying for residential status. Other criteria include passing the civic integration exam and giving up their current nationality to become a Dutch citizen.